We heard some about it a year ago, Urban saying that while he liked the offense, he didn’t have the playmakers on the roster to really make the offense hum.

We heard about it during this summer’s camp, too. Jordan Hall was healthy, Carlos Hyde would miss only three games while sitting for his summertime indiscretion, the receivers had an additional year’s experience under their belts and there was that Dontre Wilson kid from Texas who was already tying up the first-team defense in knots.

We heard that we’d get to see what Urban Meyer’s offense really looks like in 2013.

There were glimpses against Buffalo and San Diego State. But on the road at California … boom, there it was. Again in the first half against Florida A&M.

But how would Ohio State do against Wisconsin, arguably the first real defense the Buckeyes had seen all year? With a quarterback who hadn’t played in more than two games?

Well, uh, yeah.

I still get the sense that we haven’t see the best of Ohio State’s offense. The best, I think, is yet to come.

Mrs. Crappy would have been a fan of Pete Johnson. And she might have found Archie Griffin a bit irritating.

The people who sit near us in the stadium undoubtedly recognize the chatter that comes from seats 9 and 10, Row 22 in 14 C. I sometimes have difficulty forming complete sentences, particularly when Ohio State has the ball, but Mrs. Crappy is able to clearly — and loudly — express her displeasure with running backs who stutter-step too much before hitting the hole.

“QUIT JUKING AROUND!”

She recognizes that a certain amount of, uh, juking around is necessary, but her patience with the practice is thin. After two games watching Jordan Hall and Dontre Wilson, she’s going to be very happy when Carlos Hyde — Ohio State’s premiere north-south tailback — is permitted to return to the lineup.

When Hyde is back on the field, it could be that 14 C won’t hear “Quit juking around!” quite as often for the rest of the season. But so we don’t forget — and to honor Mrs. Crappy’s contention that a downhill running game is the best kind of running game — the Killer Nuts Tailgating shirt shop has unveiled its very first new design for the 2013 season:

There’s more than a week before the next home game. Order now, and we can all carry Mrs. Crappy’s message into Ohio Stadium against Florida A&M.

Your favorite KNT shirts — Pork Division Champs, Leaders Champs, Urban Renewal and We Are Killer Nuts — are still available in the store as well, as as always, your purchases assure that I’ll have two or three extra dollars to spend on our tailgate parties. Thank you once again for your support.

When I went through Ohio State’s schedule back in August, one thing jumped out at me — I thought tomorrow’s game against Wisconsin was probably the toughest on the schedule.

Almost nothing about this season has gone the way I expected it to, but we’ve come full circle in respect to my initial assessment of this game.

Wisconsin hasn’t had a Wisconsin-esque season so far. They were firing assistant coaches just a game or two in. They couldn’t figure out who’s playing quarterback. And until sometime in mid-October, they couldn’t run the football, something that qualifies as a full-blown crisis in Madison.

But in the past few week, Monte Ball has looked like Monte Ball — and Wisconsin has looked like Wisconsin. And we’re back to the trip to Madison looking like a tough one.

Ohio State hasn’t played like I expected, either; they’re, uh, better. We’re in a position to clinch sole possession of the 2012 Pork Division championship with a win tomorrow, and take one more step towards an undefeated season.

This is the time of the year when things are supposed to be hard. The games are more important. The opponents are tougher and more focused. The weather can be pretty grim. And if you’re playing on the road? Ouch. Wisconsin’s Camp Randall Stadium is one of the truly nasty places for opponents in the Big Ten and playing there in November multiplies the potential problems.

But. We’ve already played in the roughest road environment we can face in the conference. We’ve improved almost every week. Our defense is playing like an Ohio State defense. And our team seems to have embraced the challenge of a season without the possibility of a post-season reward. Striving for another undefeated week — and being one game away from an undefeated season — is enough of a goal.

Wisconsin has some motivation as well. I’m sure they don’t want to back into the Big Ten title game — their berth as the Pork representative is already assured — which they would do if they don’t win the division title outright by winning tomorrow.

And then there’s the matter of last year. I’ll never forget that game. I imagine they haven’t forgotten either.

We will get Wisconsin’s best shot tomorrow. Madison will be primed, as Columbus was a year ago, for what has become one of the conference’s better rivalries. And they’ll be playing to position themselves for the conference championship game and beyond.

But Ohio State has something bigger to play for. Not a bowl game. Not a conference championship. But for each other. And for the rest of the conference, so there’s no doubt who has the best team in the league, no matter what the NCAA has to say.

The song above is apparently a staple at Beaver Stadium; we heard snippets of it several times during Saturday’s game.

It’s also a pretty apt analogy for the game itself, especially if we’re talking about Ohio State.

First quarter: Click.

Second quarter: Click.

Second half: BOOM.

Here’s what I saw:

In the first half, Braxton Miller continued to look like he was trying too hard to not run; yes, we’re all concerned about his health — and we were all terrified last weekend against Purdue — but I think he can swing too far in the other direction. He’s a better passer than his predecessor, but he’s not a drop-back quarterback and his running game must be part of his offense.

But when he did run? Somewhere between being scraped off the field against Purdue and the start of the Penn State game, Braxton learned A) how to slide and B) where the sideline is.

And when he has room to run, he is magic.

I do not understand the special teams breakdowns. Ohio State — and special teams coordinator Urban Meyer — has been lucky that one of them hasn’t cost us a game so far this season. Against Wisconsin, or Michigan — or even against Illinois — it could.

The touchdown Ohio State gave up on the blocked punt was balanced out by Adam Griffin’s play to break up Penn State’s fake punt. Outstanding.

Does anyone else think Rod Smith looks a lot like Eddie George did in his first season or two? Big, physical, deceptively fast long stride? Even the occasional fumble?

We heard a lot of grumbling about penalties from those wearing white in Beaver Stadium. Penn State gave up 85 yards on nine penalties. Ohio State gave up 75 yards on seven. Hm.

To save the best for last: Saturday’s game against Penn State was easily Ohio State’s best defensive effort of the season. One stat: Penn State had 32 yards rushing on 28 attempts. That’s a good day.